america's longest running war after a trip to afghanistan by president obama. the unannounced visit to kabul was full of secrecy and symbolism, be but not very many specifics. a tough reminder that there's a long way to go in that country. suicide car bomber and taliban militants disguised attacked a housing compound. nick paton walsh is live with us. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. it appears the suicide bomber drove a car full of explosives into what's known as the green village here. close to the center of kabul, a place where many foreign contractors and ex-pats live in supposed maximum security and safety. it's unclear what happened after this initial explosion. some suggestion guards shot back and suggestions other attackers disguised in the head to toe female garments distinctive to afghanistan rushed. no matter how this panned out, we saw seven afghan civilians killed, one of which was a school child and ten school children injured. many afghans asleep when president obama visited under secrecy of the darkness yesterday. not having seen his speech awoken, though, to the sound of these explosions. >> thank you. president obama declared in afghanistan the country is no longer a safe haven for terrorists and al qaeda's defeat is now within reach. that trip included an agreement with president hamid karzai outlining the strategic partnership between the two countries that will take place after 2014. >> last year, we removed 10,000 u.s. troops from afghanistan. another 23,000 will leave by the end of the summer. after that, reductions will continue at a steady pace with more and more of our troops coming home. and as our coalition agreed, by the end of 2014, the afghans will be fully responsible for the security of their country. >> lots of people thought that speech, though, was pretty low on specifics. an editorial in the "new york times" this morning wrote this. "the white house set it up as a big moment, but the president squandered the chance to fully explain his exit strategy from a war americans are desperate to see brought to an end." seth jones is a senior political scientist for rand corporation also a former senior adviser for u.s. special operations command in afghanistan. a new book called "hunting in the shadows." it's nice to have you with us. thanks for being here. president paints a fairly rosy picture in that speech last night of afghanistan. the reality, of course, is much less rosy and much more complicated. what did he miss? what nuances did he miss in that speech? >> well, it's important to recognize there is an active insurgency that continues. and we saw that earlier today with at least seven people killed in a car bombing in kabul. we also have several neighbors including pakistan and iran that are providing consistent support to insurgent groups. so there's a lot that has to come between today and peace in afghanistan. >> so when the president says this about the tide turning, i'm curious to know your thoughts. let's play that. >> over the last three years, the tide has turned. we broke the taliban's momentum, we built strong afghan security forces, we devastated al qaeda's leadership taking out over 20 of their top 30 leaders. and one year ago, from base here in afghanistan, our troops launched the operation that killed osama bin laden. the goal that i set to defeat al qaeda and deny it a chance to rebuild is now within our reach. >> is, in fact, that true? the goal to defeat and deny al qaeda a chance to rebuild is within the reach of the united states? >> i think that's a little optimistic. i think we see al qaeda has partially rebuilt itself across the border in pakistan. it has pushed some fighters, including farouk al qatar. and we've also seen a relationship, a continuing relationship in osama bin laden documents between elements of senior al qaeda and the taliban. so, again, very complicated picture here. >> in addition to people criticizing the speech and it was a short speech, i'll give you that, for lack of specifics, i think you have to look at it a couple of ways, right? there's the speech and the content and then there's the political speech. who is the audience that the president's talking to? i count the neighbors of afghanistan, the afghan citizens and civilians themselves, and then, of course, american voters. who am i missing? who is the most important? >> well, i think the american voters are probably the most important here. the fact that the president said he's going to be decreasing on a steady basis the american forces means that we're not going to see over the long run a lot more americans killed. but there clearly is an audience here both for afghans and the neighbors. people remember the united states departure from afghanistan in 1989. the funding dried up after the soviet wars ended. and i think it is important to demonstrate that the u.s. is not leaving now. >> would not comment on troop size, would not comment on financial commitments. he did say they would not be building bases. he did say there'd be support and support would be in the form of counterterror support and training. but even there, not specifics who would be doing the training. what do you think was the most important element out of that speech? >> well, again, the u.s. will not be leaving permanently. i think that is the message to send to the afghans and to the broader region. the u.s. will not after 2014 completely abandon the country. i do think that's an important message to send. >> politically, many people have said the timing is interesting, the one-year anniversary of the killing -- i mean literally squeaking in under the wire of the killing of osama bin laden. here's what the president said about americans being tired of war. >> i recognize that many americans are tired of war. as president, nothing is more wrenching than signing a letter to the family of the fallen. or looking into the eyes of a child that will grow up without a mother or father. i will not keep americans in harm's way a single day longer than is required for our national security. but we must finish our job we finished in afghanistan and end this war responsibly. >> what else do you think he needed to say? >> well, i think he needed to say, again, why are we there? and he started to get to that on the al qaeda front. but i think a more realistic assessment of the situation because al qaeda today is not a defeated organization. we have branches that have spread out across parts of the globe in yemen and somalia. i think it's helpful to make a strong argument this war will not stop in 2014. that this group that's based on the afghan/pakistan border will continue to target the u.s. h e homeland for the foreseeable future. >> he glossed over the iraq war in half a line. >> he also said the war in iraq is over. it's over from an american soldier standpoint, but that war is continuing to rage and actually levels of violence from al qaeda in iraq have picked up this year. so that war is far from over. >> when you look at this trip, gauge it for me from a political standpoint and then from a content standpoint and sort of policy standpoint. victory as it's being touted today by administration sources? all political from folks who are opponents of the president? or as you look forward to this meeting in chicago with nato, a wash? >> i think it's a wash to some degree. the nato summit in chicago will be critical. we're looking for more specifics from the summit, looking for troop numbers, looking for a better strategy, and commitments from america's allies in nato. >> does this speech and this visit help? >> well, probably helps because it does show a longer term american commitment, but without the specifics, it's hard to take that too seriously. >> nice to see you. thanks for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> you bet. in about 20 minutes we'll be talking to the former minnesota governor and the former presidential candidate tim pawlenty. he'll weigh in on the president's visit to afghanistan. of course, he is now representing the romney campaign. first, though, we want to get to other headlines making news and christine has that for us. good morning. >> thank you, soledad. major developments in the escape of chen. the u.s. has negotiated his freedom. late last night, he left the u.s. embassy and was taken to a medical facility to be reunited with his family and receive treatment on an ankle he hurt escaping from house arrest six days ago. just yesterday, cnn was chased out of his home village. the crew was followed by an unmarked car for hours, then a crew -- a group of men jumped out and attacked the crew. the entire ordeal has threatened to overshadow secretary clinton's trip to beijing. she arrived there this morning. clinton was the first person to speak to chen after he left the u.s. embassy. he reportedly told her, "i want to kiss you." now we're learning the u.s. has negotiated chen staying in china no longer under house arrest and will be moving to another part of china to study something he's not been allowed to do until now. secretary of state clinton has released this statement. i'm pleased we were able to facilitate chen gaungcheng's stay and departure from the u.s. embassy. five men in fbi custody accused of trying to blow up a major bridge and plans to reportedly target nato and the republican national convention, as well. the fbi says three of the men are self-proclaimed anarchists. they had been monitoring the group since october and provided the fake bombs that the group allegedly attached to the bridge outside cleveland. investigators say the public was never in any danger. criminal charges are now expected in the death of florida a & m drum major robert champion. a state attorney will hold a news conference this afternoon. five band members are facing possible felonies. 26-year-old champion died back in november. beaten on a bus as part of a band hazing ritual. minding your business this morning, u.s. stock futures lower ahead of the opening bell. the dow closed at a four-year high yesterday. it was a boost from a strong report on u.s. manufacturing that took it there. plus, a new report says that people are putting more money into their retirement accounts, taking advantage of those stock gains. fidelity says average 401(k) balances rose 8% to just about $75,000 at the end of the first quarter compared to the same period a year ago. facebook's initial public offering fast approaching. the wall street journal reports this morning that face book shares will begin trading publicly on may 18th, that's the plan. the journal also reporting the road show to shop at stocks for big investors will kick off monday. company shares will be traded under the ticker symbol fb. and fig newtons are now just newtons. craft decided to drop the fig. the cookies have other fillings besides just fig. fresh strawberries and blueberries and raspberries will be proudly displayed on the box. they were first produced in the 1890s. so good-bye, fig. >> the passing, the end of an era. >> don't change my newtons. >> children are crying in their coffee. thank you. appreciate it. still ahead this morning on "starting point." rupert murdoch, and calls for the end of his media empire in the united states. we're going to talk this morning to the man who wrote the book "the fall of the house of murdoch." and our get real, the effort to bring hooters to brooklyn is a bust, get it? our panel heading in this morning. talk about that and much more. good morning, everybody. you're watching "starting point." back in a moment. 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[ sneezes ] ifif y youou'r're e lolookokinio geget t totogegethther, yoyou u cacameme t to o ththe. bebecacaususe e heherere a at, wewe'r're e ononlyly a abob. fifindndining g yoyou u ththe e isis a allll w we e do. wewelclcomome e toto h hot. welcome barks back, everybody, this morning, more fallout in that scathing report that condemned rupert murdoch and his news corp.'s company. saying "when coupled with its conduct in the united states, it is clear that news corp. has engaged in a pattern of misbehavior that disqualifies it from holding broadcast licenses." meanwhile, news corp. firing back against that british report which said that rupert murdoch was not a fit person. that's a quote, to run a major international company saying that very conclusion was "unjustified and highly partisan." so what does it mean for the future of rupert murdoch and his media empire? let's get to a contributor from "newsweek" and "the daily beast." he joins us this morning from london. nice to see you. thanks for being with us. i appreciate it. in addition to all we were talking about yesterday happening in parliament. the u.s. department of justice is also investigating. so how does what we heard yesterday out of where you are in england affect that investigation here in the united states? >> well, phone hacking isn't within the remit of the department of justice's investigation. i think you probably know that's probably more likely to be focused on the foreign corrupt practices act, which relates to something that committee yesterday didn't investigate, which is quite extensive allegations of corrupting officials. the other tabloid paper which murdoch owns, "the sun," the daily paper isn't accused or being investigated for payments to police. that comes under the foreign corrupt practices acts. and those investigations are still ongoing. >> news corp. currently has 27 broadcast licenses, local tv stations across the country, new york, los angeles, dallas, washington, d.c., parliament saying that he is unfit to run news corp. using the words willful blindness. how much jeopardy is, in fact, rupert murdoch in in this particular country with those licenses? >> that's the sec and has strict criteriato analyze in the british case. if it goes beyond britain. there are other investigations, fbi looking at cases in russia. there's another case ongoing in sicily about alleged hacking of rival pay tv channels. so the problem is there's a pattern of these practices. that that would definitely under u.s. law require some investigation. there's also civil cases pending in the u.s., i believe, which allege phone hacking of british or american citizens on u.s. soil. now, that could force disclosure from news corp. that's what happened here. it took ten years, but the patent of a civil case forcing disclosure from news international led to these revelations. we don't know where it would go in the states. >> it was quite an amazing thing to listen to tom watson, a member of the parliament who was just the -- one of the most damning statements i've ever heard ever on live television talking about rupert murdoch. what kind of weight does it hold? you know, one of the things we heard was an apology might be demanded and might be forthcoming. what would that matter? what would the impact be? >> well, i noticed that news corp. statement was quite apologetic. i think tom watson has a particular beef. he claims he was surveyed several times and followed by news corp., or news international employees. i think there is a sense that was along with an inquiry, a huge blow against murdoch and may be a sign that his departing the uk, at least in newspaper terms. but remember, that's only 1% of news corp.'s revenues. the b sky b thing is much more lucrative and much more interesting to him. but even still, news corp. is, you know, vast organization throughout the world. it is shaming him and causes acute problems, but i'm not sure to what extent. with the share points going up because of a buy back he's in jeopardy just yet. >> peter dukes, thanks for joining us. appreciate it. >> you're welcome. and this into cnn, a brand new photo of chen gaungcheng. shows him being wheeled by a nurse in a hospital in beijing. he's been transferred there after six days at the u.s. embassy. u.s. officials negotiated his freedom and we're told he's going to be moving to another part of china where he'll be able to study. we've got to take a short break, but still ahead on starting point, secret service agents caught up in the colombian prostitution scandal say they're not going to cooperate. we'll tell you why. and our get real this morning, folks in brooklyn happy about getting the nets, less happy about getting hooters. what they're going to do about it. this is off meredith baxter's play list, it's santana "smooth." 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[ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. wow. so meredith, usually -- >> i love new york. wish it was smack dab in between the river and the rio grande, but it's not. >> they go for the wings, they don't go for the waitresses or the tight tops, they're not going for the orange shorts. i don't get it. >> no. >> why would anybody want to stop a hooters from opening up? according to the "new york daily news" the restaurant chain is looking to bring the fun to the location near the new barclay's center, which is the new home of the nets. the new nets arena. >> they're debating that. >> i was trying to figure it out. is it the new york nets? the brooklyn nets? >> we'll see. >> not only debating that, but debating this. should a hooters be allowed to open? because there's a group of local moms who say, no, a group called save park slope says we will fight hooters on all fronts. you remember this is the same group that declared that the ice cream vendors were a nuisance to be dealt with proving once again that moms in park slope are not to be messed with. >> they've gotten to save brooklyn from a lot of things. ice cream and hooters. >> one mother was quoted as saying it's a disgusting national chain with bad beer and bad food. another said strip joints are next using the classic slippery slope argument. you start with a hooters -- so that was the dilemma. but the biggest issue for them might be space because there's not a lot of big store fronts apparently in park slope, which is where they want to go. when i was pregnant, i loved the wings at hooters. i used to go all the time much to the tremendous embarrassment of my husband and friends -- >> there are straight men who wouldn't set foot in a hooters. it's embarrassing. i applaud the moms for this. i don't think it's going to be happening. i think the last thing professional sports needs is more ties to juvenile nicknames for the female anatomy. >> well, we support you and the women everywhere appreciate that, but i like the wings. can we get a good restaurant with good food? >> yeah, just take -- get the wings, take them out. >> yeah. i haven't gone since i've had children. but when i was pregnant -- >> it's exciting, and will it be the brooklyn nets or the new york nets? >> i hope it's the brooklyn nets. i do. i hope it's the brooklyn nets. >> i think they should call it the new jersey nets since